Two Harvard economists have built a model to elucidate the battle between Windows and Linux. There’s an interesting interview with the authors in which they discuss their findings.
Their conclusion?
Our main result is that in the absence of cost asymmetries and as long as Windows has a first-mover advantage (a larger installed base at time […]

Microsoft has announced the US pricing regime for the latest incarnation of Windows:
Windows Vista Home Basic: $199

Windows Vista Home Premium: $239

Windows Vista Business: $299

Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Security vulnerabilities thrown in at no extra charge.

Witty series of short movies explaining various reasons for buying an Apple Mac. Not recommended for Windows users unless they’ve been retrofitted with a sense of humour. The movies are clearly inspired by Umberto Eco’s celebrated essay arguing that the PC was a Protestant machine whereas the Mac was undoubtedly a Catholic one.

I guess nobody outside of Microsoft knows, but this quote from a column by the well-known commentator John Dvorak is interesting:
Researchers are reporting that as many as half of the business-owned PCs in operation now may not be capable of running Microsoft Vista.

Sorry, Dave, we were a bit slow in posting this one…
BBC NEWS | Technology | Countdown for nasty Windows virus
Like many recent viruses, Nyxem tries to spread by making people open attachments on e-mail messages that are infected with the destructive code.
The subject lines and body text of the various messages Nyxem uses vary, but […]

Microsoft is taking rather a while to patch the latest (rather serious) Windows security hole, to the extent that experts are recommending a third-party patch.
If Santa didn’t bring you an alternative to your Windows machine, you might want to read more info here.

Dave Briggs points out that it’s increasingly irrelevant what operating system you run on the desktop, as long as you have a good web browser…
You would have thought that working without desktop applications would be pretty tricky. But there are now a growing number of online tools which can help you get things done online […]

Peter Sheltrum writes:
I am using what I think is a very standard system with three machines networked over WiFi using all Netgear equipment.
The desktops are fitted with USB WiFi cards.
I have been unable to find a version of Linux that will load and go on one of these desktops. All load and go as […]